Report from 3 to 7 Aprile

We are experiencing an unseasonal cold snap; to use a stock weatherman phrase “with temperatures well below the average for the season”. In spite of the icy mornings, the song of the first Nightingale immediately puts us in a summery frame of mind.
The week’s newly-arrived migrants – and there were quite a few, including Common Sandpiper, Cuckoo, House Martin, Sedge Warbler, Sand Martin, and Wood Warbler – were overshadowed by yet another new species for La Cassinazza, a Black Woodpecker. Like the Marsh Tit and Eurasian Nuthatch that also arrived in the last six months, it is a forest species. There can be little doubt that a new ecological corridor is now linking La Cassinazza to more extensive woodlands along the Ticino river – the property is no longer surrounded by an agricultural desert.

I managed to find the Goshawk nest, with the female sitting on eggs, deep in the woods. The fact that the Goshawk and Nuthatch are both now breeding, and that Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have increased significantly, shows how La Cassinazza’s woodlands have matured, 25 years after they were first planted.

Last week’s star guest, a Glossy Ibis, happy with the attention that was lavished upon it, including last week’s photo, seems to have resumed its journey and has not been seen for a few days.

The first Night Herons arrived around March 20, and now the full contingent is here. They have not yet turned their minds to nesting, and are mainly active at night. By day, they roost in a dense stand of willows.